Planning continues for 2011 Day of Remembrance

A variety of activities and opportunities for reflection will be held as Virginia Tech holds its 2011 Day of Remembrance on Saturday, April 16.

As in previous years, the 2011 Day of Remembrance will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, April 16, with the ceremonial candle lighting at the April 16 Memorial located in front of Burruss Hall.

Events will continue throughout the day until the ceremonial candle is extinguished at 11:59 p.m.

Among the activities planned is the third annual 3.2-Mile Run in Remembrance, which will begin at 9:40 a.m. Saturday on Alumni Mall, and several Expressions of Remembrance programs held across campus between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Runners or walkers may participate in the 3.2-Mile Run in Remembrance. To register, visit the Department of Recreation Sports website. Once registered, participants will be asked to check in on Friday, April 15, between 4 and 8 p.m. or on Saturday, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. in Commonwealth Ballroom of Squires Student Center.

As details on specific 2011 Day of Remembrance events are finalized, complete information will be posted to the We Remember website. A link to this website can be found by clicking on the memorial ribbon located in the upper right hand corner of the university homepage.

The 2011 Day of Remembrance is being organized by the April 16 Student Planning Committee made up of representatives from 10 student groups and an at-large member from the student body. Organizations represented on the planning committee are the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, Council of International Student Organizations, Graduate Student Association, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, Residence Hall Federation, Student Alumni Associates, Student Government Association, Students Against Violence, and Virginia Tech Union.

“The 2009 steering committee directed that the 2011 Day of Remembrance should focus on our commitment to community service,” said Bo Hart of Columbia, S.C., a senior majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and president of the Student Government Association. “In addition to participating in the events held April 16, we’re asking all students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends to pledge 32 hours of community service to be completed before April 16, 2011.”

To pledge and/or record community service hours in support of the “32 for 32” service project, participants are asked to visit the VT-ENGAGE website.

Other events planned for Saturday, April 16 include:

A community picnic will begin at 11:30 a.m. on the Drillfield.

A university-wide commemoration and candlelight vigil will be held on the Drillfield at the April 16 Memorial starting at approximately 7:30 p.m. The program will recognize the 32 students and faculty who lost their lives that day.

Parking on the Drillfield will be restricted beginning Friday, April 15 at 5:30 p.m. through the morning of Sunday, April 17. The Drillfield will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday morning to accommodate the 3.2-Mile Run in Remembrance.

Free public parking for all events is available in the Perry Street lots and parking garage, located off Prices Fork Road.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.